ROCKET PORN AND INSIDE-OUT SANDWICHES

Stand back! I gotta get some rocket fuel out of the fridge! (Adam Savage)

It can be argued that cooks are rocket scientists on an eternal quest for kitchen chemistry. The internet has aided this quest immeasurably; I wonder if anybody has an idea of exactly how many food bloggers there are globally? Food has been termed ‘the new pornography’; Alexander Cockburn sums it up perfectly:

Now it cannot escape attention that there are curious parallels between manuals on sexual techniques and manuals on the preparation of food; the same studious emphasis on leisurely technique, the same apostrophes to the ultimate, heavenly delights. True gastro-porn heightens the excitement and also the sense of the unattainable by proffering colored photographs of various completed recipes.

I’ve digressed hopelessly with this post; my aim was to celebrate the fact that I learned something new through blogging this week: rocket is known – in other parts of the world – as arugula. I thought Arugula was an island in the Caribbean, but it turns out that is Aruba, which is totally beside the point.

And so on to rocket in my kitchen; a jar of Pesto Princess Rocket & Walnut pesto, a chicken and a frenetic work schedule that necessitated a supper that would cook itself while I kept my head down at my desk. Sandwiches came to mind, but I knew I’d be scowled at. Out of nowhere came the memory of my friend Sous’ comment that she dislikes the modern trend of ‘deconstructed’ food. I had a fanciful notion and decided to make ‘deconstructed’ chicken pesto sandwiches; ‘inside-out’ sandwiches, if you will, and spread the pesto thickly between two slices of white bread (crusts removed). I diced the bread into tiny pieces and stuffed these firmly into the cavity of the bird. A coating of Shiraz salt on the outer skin and into the oven it went.

Easy peasy, everyone happy.

And now; the third and final winner of the Pesto Princess apron is Corina, with her slogan for Pesto Princess:

Alice Waters Fan

I believe that how you eat, and how you choose your food, is an act which combines the political – your place in the world of other people – with the most intensely personal – the way you use your mind and your senses, together, for the gratification of your soul.